Quest #21 "Island Hopping"

[Jernau35]

Maag

Maag hands over the third pole to Lerrick. " Take good care of it", he tells Lerrick. "Dey don't grow on trees yer know..." He waits a few seconds for his terrible joke to sink in, then bursts out laughing. HAAAAAA! Geddit?"

Once Gramble and Andron mention that Marquees might not be as dead as previously thought, Maag groans. "Yer know what? I might just cut me own 'ead off if dat is true". He rubs his temples and exhales heavily.

[Rex]

Tlachtga

Tlachtga lights her torch and gets set to head in.

[Karaunios]

Carucenus

"This doesn't look good. I hope that Marquees -That's the name of the thing we killed, right?- didn't just woke up of its death and started wandering around, taking other bodies. There's it seems we still have a minotaur, Brutus, on the loose."

[Quonundrum]

Andronichishche

"That's precisely what we are concerned about, Mr. Carucenus. Cora had risen in undeath, and I attributed this to the amulet's effect ... let us hope I was not mistaken and Marquees did not rise again himself and recover his head."

[OGRE MAGE]

One More Excursion
Starday, 20th of Goodmonth
Early Morning, Sunny, Warm, Humid

Searching the area over carefully, Alordan sees tracks. Lots of tracks. Fresh tracks. The three toed kobold tracks are not hidden in any way, leading into the ring and walking all around the clearing. He also finds a single pair of hoof prints, likely bovine tracks, that also cover the entire inside of this area. The bull tracks appear to lead out from the cave, walk around by the area of the dead kobold, and then to the area where the severed head was abandoned, before returning into the cave once again. The kobold tracks appear to have come later, and their numbers mask the route they walked, but they also eventually lead back into the cave entrance.

Lerrick doctors her bamboo pole up in the same way as Andron did, pushing her light stone into the end to make a 10’ never-ending torch. Tlachtga makes her light the old fashioned way, by lighting her torch before she moves closer to the cave mouth.

Anyone getting close to the entrance can see a short distance into the chamber. A few feet beyond the entrance, there is a stick or branch shoved vertically into the ground. Stuck atop this stick is what appears to be a severed head.

Actions?

map:

stand by for new map

Gramble 16/16
Lerrick 7/11 2/4 1st (Light stone 40'r)
Carucenus 10/10
Tlachtga 8/8 4/4 1st
Cu AC:3 13/13
Alordan 18/18
Andronichishche 6/6 0/3 1st / CL, DM, RM 1/1 1st (Light stone 40'r)
Maag 12/12

Sir Crestbrook 9/11 LoH (Petrified at Medusa’s house)
message on tiny decorative box
Mina's note

[wolfpack]

well is that marquis, that would answer our question. also appears a minotaur is back.

[Quonundrum]

Andronichishche

"Indeed, Mr. Gramble. The kobolds appear to have entered the cave unmolested so it's unlikely that is a kobold head on the stick. I would assume then it's Marquees."

Andron pauses in thought briefly, his eyes closed as he reviews a mental map of the complex and the numerous tunnels from which an ambush can be laid. He gestures to the cave entrance and the ledge above with his pole.

"Let's proceed inside and take the western tunnel to the medusa's room. Verify Marquees is still dead, recover Sister Theresa's body, and secure that flank of the complex. Keep an eye on the ledge above the entrance."

He walks back to the lintel and his position in the column. "Please lead us in, Mr. Gramble. I suggest extending the light pole to its full length to provide a better look into the cave as we enter. If Brutus is planning an ambush, he may strike out at the pole and reveal his position."

Andron will collect the skewered head-on-a-stick as they move inside.

[wolfpack]

Gramble will lead on

[Jernau35]

Maag

Maag decides to climb up on the rocks once more to check the ledge above the cave. Maag, yer gonna get shot by a bleedin' kobold, he thinks as he searches for a foothold. Or et by one of dem bloody trees. He looks up for overhanging branches.

'onestly, der risks I take for dis lot.... Maag starts to climb up about thirty feet away from the ledge.

Climb Walls (90%) [1d100] = 26

[ravenn4544]

Alordan keeps his eyes open and ready for attackers. He let's the group know of the tracks he sees and that they are likely to run into something soon.

Watching the new light poles do their thing has him wondering about the darkness. "when we were first here, the torches went out it seemed we got teleported within the tunnels. What would have caused something like that? Is that a medusa or a minotaur trick? Or something worse?"

[Quonundrum]

Andronichishche

Andronichishche nods to Maag as he scales the stone wall, himself still carefully watching the ledge for any signs of movement. "Not necessarily something worse, Mr. Alordan, but definitely different. Neither Brutus nor Melania is apparently responsible for it. Cora told Carucenus's group of a curse, such that if you are ever in total darkness you would be teleported to another random section of the tunnels. Marquees could easily bypass it by phasing through the rock, instead. As to who placed the curse, we have no clues. Perhaps the enigmatic wizard?"

[Rex]

Tlachtga

"We should all try and be alert." She has Cu sniff the bovine tracks. "Do we want to try and track it?"

[Quonundrum]

Andronichishche

"According to the tracks Mr. Alordan found, the minotaur followed the kobolds back inside the cave. I expect it was tracking them by smell, so tracking the minotaur should lead us to both."

[Karaunios]

Carucenus "Let's do that." He follows Gramble.

[kruk]

Lerrick

The cleric follows the group: mace in right hand and glow torch in the other

[OGRE MAGE]

One More Excursion
Starday, 20th of Goodmonth
Early Morning, Sunny, Warm, Humid

Before entering, Maag fancies another climb up the rocks to scope out the scene from above. He sees nothing out of order from his birds eye view. No minotaurs or deadly vines attack the thief on his aerial scout. Tlachtga has Cu get a good whiff of the bovine tracks, the animal seems ready and willing for a good chase.

Moving into the cave entrance, the severed and now chewed up head of Marquees is still a horror to behold, even when stuck unmoving upon a sharpened stick. (X on new map) All the meat on the cheeks has been gnawed off, and both it’s eye sockets have been chewed up badly as well, the eyeballs sucked out and now long gone. The ears have also been chewed off the side of the head. The wounds appear to be made by strong, evenly spaced bite marks, not by anything with sharp, fang-like teeth.

Once everyone is inside the chamber, Andron notices something as he looks around at all the ambush possibilities down every passage. The heap of stinking reed sleeping matts are no longer laying on the floor near the opening of the cave.

Actions?

map:

D05A277C-3907-4CDC-AC39-7F8483E2EF00.jpeg (145.1 KiB) Viewed 506 times

Gramble 16/16
Lerrick 7/11 2/4 1st (Light stone 40'r)
Carucenus 10/10
Tlachtga 8/8 4/4 1st Torch 40’r
Cu AC:3 13/13
Alordan 18/18
Andronichishche 6/6 0/3 1st / CL, DM, RM 1/1 1st (Light stone 40'r)
Maag 12/12

Sir Crestbrook 9/11 LoH (Petrified at Medusa’s house)
message on tiny decorative box
Mina's note

[Rex]

Tlachtga

"I think we should move Alordan and Cu to the front and let them follow the trail."

[Quonundrum]

If that stick is inside, is it planted in dirt or rock?

[OGRE MAGE]

It’s sorta wedged into a crack in the rocky floor.

[Quonundrum]

Andronichishche

Andronichishche kneels to more carefully examine the impaled head of Marquees. He narrows his eyes in concentration as he inspects the contours of the bite marks, briefly looking to his right and noticing the reed bedding is now missing. A few moments later he stands with one eyebrow arched as he drifts his gaze between the two areas of interest. Finally, he acknowledges Tlachtga's suggestion with a nod in her direction. "I agree, Miss Tlachtga. If you would please take point, Mr. Alordan?"

He points at the gnawed skull of Marquees. "Those bites were not made by a carnivore's teeth. The even spacing and scoring of the bone suggests a strong jaw and thick teeth adapted for chewing ... like a bull, or minotaur. It is unfortunate the eyes are missing, but perhaps this may work in our favor. Brutus obviously knows of us, and we literally dropped the head of his tormentor, in a sack, right on his doorstep." He looks up and raises his light pole to illuminate the invectives scrawled on the walls. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Andron pivots the pole to shine the light in the area where the reed mats were located. "It would seem that Brutus has relocated to a new lair, or perhaps his old lair before Marquees drove him out. I suspect Brutus is also unaffected by the teleportation curse. If so, the kobolds are likely dead by now, separated and hunted down in the tunnels. Narrow tunnels of which Brutus almost certainly knows every inch. I think we should first continue west into the medusa's room, secure that flank and recover Sister Theresa."

He moves to the left of the dais to shine light down the western tunnel. He bends his head forward with his eyes closed in thought, one had stroking the base of his chin. "It is important if we should encounter Brutus to refrain from violence, unless necessary. He is the only being alive, that we know of, who may have any knowledge about the nature of this place. This island holds something of interest to the god Apep. Anything of interest to a god of darkness, destruction, chaos, and death cannot bode well for the people of Beachtown. I was hesitant to raise this before as the clues are still somewhat circumstantial."

"Recall that Cora said she was a servant of Apep, sent to this island to do his bidding, but we know from her journal she came here to start a shrine to Athena. That memory then must have come from Melania, and the main clue to this is what occurred after the amulet was destroyed. Those still conscious reported feeling a sense of irritation at how dirty the tunnels were after the human shaped necrotic mist suffused them. Cora also exhibited this behavior by constantly cleaning the walls. Therefore, when she stated she found the amulet on the mainland, that was Melania. Whether Melania was a follower of Apep or converted by the amulet is unknown, but Apep did send her to this island for a purpose. That same purpose may have also brought the wizard in an attempt to foil it."